board77

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get a little more introspective in the process of rewriting the thing.

That's got to be the funniest thing I have ever read on the Al Gore invented internet.

Ang, its quite clear that you have not read the threads discussing writin the mission statement. If we got any more introspective, we'd be turned inside out.

As I've said before, if our aim is to aggressively market ourselves, you are absolutely right, this is not an appropriate mission statement. If our aim is to reflect what is important to as broad a portion of our membership as possible, while explaining to potential new members what we are about, we've come as close as possible to nailing it.

Voronwë_the_Faithful wrote:

As I've said before, if our aim is to aggressively market ourselves, you are absolutely right, this is not an appropriate mission statement. If our aim is to reflect what is important to as broad a portion of our membership as possible, while explaining to potential new members what we are about, we've come as close as possible to nailing it.

I, of course, disagree, but I suppose it's no use bringing that up again.

TH,
I'm glad that you're not trying to change my mind. I'm not trying to change yours either. I'm just trying to make myself understood.

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IMO, if you can sum something up in a single phrase, it's most probably a facile misrepresentation of a complex issue. In my experience, nothing can be summed up and defined fairly in a single short line. Life is too complicated for that to work.

True, but that's why we have the Key Principles, which are great BTW. But a MS should do something different than the Key Principles (otherwise it's redundant, and why bother?) The MS is not supposed to be all-encompassing. It's supposed to be a simplification, maybe even an oversimplification. And it's not supposed to tell you very much. What it's supposed to do is focus.
This all-encompassing (yet still fairly short) paragraph doesn't really do anything that isn't being done elsewhere, like in the Key Principles. It just does it more succinctly. A MS should serve an entirely different purpose - to focus.

For example:

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(I just picked out "democratically governed", because that's the one that is mentioned first, and it's also the biggest deal, the most difficult to accomplish - even if we only had that as a mission, we'd be kept busy for all time - but in fact, this is just one (big) chunk from the whole set of our aims.)

The fact that you mention a "whole set of our aims" tells me that we don't really know what's most important. Which of those aims are absolutely vital and which are disposable? If two of those aims come into conflict, which one wins out? Having a "whole set" of aims is, by definition, lacking in focus. A MS pares this set down to its bare bones and sets one (or maybe just a few) above the others.

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The way I see it, we don't have the kind of facile mission that can be expressed in one line.

Maybe not, in which case we really don't need a mission statement. So let's not have one. Like I said, the board isn't going to sink or swim based on the strength of the MS.
But we voted to have one, and we voted to have it before we opened, so let's stick this DDCB into the slot marked "mission statement", check that requirement off our punchlist, and move on to the important thing, which is opening the board.
In summary, this DDCB is not a mission statement, and since it won't hurt anyone or hold anything up for me to refuse to call it one, I'm refusing to do so. But I'm still glad that we fulfilled the requirement and the board will open on time.

V-man wrote:

That's got to be the funniest thing I have ever read on the Al Gore invented internet.

Good. I thought you could use a good laugh.
Oh wait - I think he was being sarcastic.

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Ang, its quite clear that you have not read the threads discussing writin the mission statement.

Now that is funny, because I have read them. I even posted in one.
Okay, so "introspective" probably isn't the best word to say what I meant. I guess I should've said "focused", maybe?
Look, we've had a whole lot going on here. I have nothing but praise for the Committee on getting so much done so well so fast. It's nothing short of amazing. And I apologize for not being more available to add my input during th process. But this one thing is not what it should be. And I know we can do better. Paring awaythe unnecessary stuff to determine what is absolutely essential is hard work. I think we were asking too much of ourselves to do it right amidst everything else. That's why I would like to revisit it later, if possible.
if this were any other group of people, I wouldn't worry about it. But I have extrememly high standards for y'all, because I know you can meet them.

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If we got any more introspective, we'd be turned inside out.

eeewwww! Bad mental image.

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As I've said before, if our aim is to aggressively market ourselves, you are absolutely right, this is not an appropriate mission statement.

That's not the problem.

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If our aim is to reflect what is important to as broad a portion of our membership as possible, while explaining to potential new members what we are about, we've come as close as possible to nailing it.

Yes, we have. And that is something we should do. But not with a mission statement. The mission statement is for us, not for potential new members. It's not to tell others what we are about. Its function is to focus our efforts towards what is most important. It's to remind ourselves why we do what we do, so we don't get too sidetracked.

That's why I've said that the DDCB belongs on the front page. I like it a lot. I really do.

It's just not a good mission statement.

* Nips in quickly to massage Vinny's tight shoulders and offer some hugs all around *

Smile guys. There's a lot of mutual appreciation around, in spite of the differences of opinion. In fact, that's as it should be, with all these strong intellects and strong opinions.

Impenitent wrote:

* Nips in quickly to massage Vinny's tight shoulders and offer some hugs all around *

Should that be Vinnÿ

Ang, I do appreciate your input. I think, if it makes you feel better, you could say,

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board77 has no mission statement
board77 needs no mission statement

I do agree with you that what we have come up with is not a traditional mission statement. But that doesn't bother me. I like the statement, I think that everything that it says is important to say (even though I originally voted against including the third sentence, in restrospect I'm glad its there) and I don't really care whether we call it a "mission statement" or not. I'm glad that it is going to be on the front page (without being called a mission statement per se) because I think it does tell people fairly quickly and concisely what we are about. And I think that is a good thing.

Thanks V.
I agree that it's a good thing. It's just not what I think it should be.

As a mission statement, that is. As a front page statement thingy (AKA, the DDCB) I think it's great.
The important thing is that we can open the board now.

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board77 has no mission statement
board77 needs no mission statement

I don't know that any organization actually needs a mission statement. But I think we might benefit from the exercise of creating one. I know we benefitted from creating this DDCB.

BTW, Al Gore never actually said that he invented the internet. He was grossly misquoted on that.

To be fair and balanced, on the other side of the political spectrum, Jerry Falwell never actually said that the purple teletubby was gay. He was misquoted also.

And that Mexican guy in that old western movie didn't say "We don't need no stinkin' badges" either.
Seriously.
He didn't.

Next you're going to tell us that Humphrey Bogart never said, "Play it again, Sam."

I know.

Actually my husband and I have probably memorized that film by now. Love it love it love it.

Edited for inadvertent rudeness

Prim - it's in the EE

The EE of Casablanca. . . . I really could've done without that one extra love scene.

I mean, it explains why he can put the most gorgeous woman in the Western world on a plane . . . but why Peter Lorre?

Yeah, it's hard to believe that Lorre and Bogey could have had such chemistry!

It's their expressive eyes.

...vows to avoid all EEs forever and ever...

Peter Lorre is h0tt!!!11

Angbasdil wrote:

The mission statement is for us, not for potential new members.

In the course of the 'mission statement' discussion, someone (can't now remember who) said the opposite, that the MS was to tell new members what we offered. Also, it was explained in the course of that discussion that the MS should reflect the Key Principles. Those were two ideas that were accepted as a basis for formulating the MS, so naturally the finished product is going to reflect that understanding (whether correct or incorrect).

I think what your comments show, Angbasdil, is that there are basic disagreements about what a mission statement is and what it's purpose should be.

If this issue is ever re-visited, obviously that is what should be decided first (what a mission statement is and what its purpose should be), before trying to formulate an actual statement.

So we need a mission statement ... for... the.. mission statement.

Actually, I think you've summed things up perfectly, Cerin. The DDCB does exactly what it's designed to do. I just disagree about that being the proper role for a mission statement.

...that and the fact that it doesn't actually state a mission...
...mutter mutter... grumble... gripe...

Hi Cerin.

The thing that no one wants to fess up to is that there are different schools of thought as to what the proper purpose of a mission statement is. So some insist it should be one thing, where as others insist it should be something else.

For myself, I don't get too caught up in the fact that we call it a Mission Statement. I think it does an admirable job at both reflecting what the membership at large thinks is important about the community, and at expressing to potential new members what we are about. Thanks in large part to your diligent and passionate work on the project.

I fessed up to it.